Authentic Istrian family farm guided walk with food and wine
Discover Istria's authentic charm with our Olivo Istriano experience, blending history, tradition, and flavors. Walk through our orchard, home to 31 varieties of fresh...
Croatia's westernmost peninsula, bilingual in Croatian and Italian, where Malvazija Istarska covers most of the vineyard land and Teran holds the region's red terra rossa soil around hilltop towns like Motovun and Buje.
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Map of Istria
Every vineyard, tasting room, wine bar and cellar we cover in Istria, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Signature wines of Istria
The iconic bottles that define Istria.
Sv. Jakov Malvazija
Producer: Clai
Price: EUR 24-32 at the cellar door
Malvazija Amfora
Producer: Kabola
Price: EUR 20-28 at the cellar door
Istraditional
Producer: Trapan
Price: EUR 24-32 at the cellar door
Santa Lucia Akacia
Producer: Kozlovic
Price: EUR 22-32 at the cellar door
Malvazija Marchiori
Producer: Bastian
Price: EUR 22-30 at the cellar door
Malvazija
Producer: Kozlovic
Price: EUR 10-14 at the cellar door
Vineyards to know in Istria
A handful of the estates we send friends to when they are in Istria.
Kozlovic
Fourth-generation Momjan estate making wine since 1904, best known for Santa Lucia Malvazija in both fresh and amphora-aged registers alongside Teran and Muskat Momjanski from the same red-soil slopes.
Kabola
Momjan estate tracing its wine story to 1891, known for amphora-aged Malvazija alongside fresh Malvazija and Muskat Momjanski, plus its own extra virgin olive oil made on site.
Clai
Krasica cellar in the Bujstina known for skin-contact and long-macerated wines, including the Ottocento range and single-vineyard Refosk bottlings from red-soil sites around Buje.
Degrassi
Savudrija estate founded in 1996 across 17 hectares of Bujstina soil, working Malvazija and Teran alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot under the Contarini and Terre Bianche labels.
Coronica
Koreniki estate near Umag focused almost entirely on two grapes, Malvazija Istarska and Teran, bottled as Gran Malvazija and Gran Teran alongside a Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend called Grabar.
Veralda
Brtonigla family winery whose vineyards date to 1938, working Malvazija Istarska, Refosco and Teran across still, rose and traditional-method sparkling bottlings alongside its own olive oil.
Sub-appellations of Istria
Momjan (Momiano)
A single-street hill village where two of Istria's best-known Malvazija houses sit a short walk apart, with the ruins of the Momjan castle above the vines and Muskat Momjanski as the local specialty nobody else grows.
Buje and the Bujstina (Buie/Bujstina)
A dense run of cellar doors from Buje's hilltop old town down to the coastal edge at Umag and Savudrija, red terra rossa soil visible in every roadside vineyard.
Vizinada (Visinada)
A quiet farming plateau where two neighbouring Arman family cellars on the same street trace back to the same 19th-century vineyards, now split into separate estates.
Motovun and the Mirna Valley (Montona)
A film-festival hill town best known for the truffle forest below it, where Teran and skin-contact Malvazija cellars share the same slopes as the truffle-hunting outfits.
Porec and the Riviera Hinterland (Parenzo)
A coastal resort base with Agrolaguna's large-scale cellars on its doorstep and a quieter hill hinterland toward Visnjan where family cellars pour from terraces looking back at the sea.
Buzet (Pinguente)
A quiet interior hill town better known for truffles than tourism, where one long-macerated, low-intervention Teran and Malvazija cellar draws visitors as much as the harvest does.
Istria wine, FAQ
When is the best time to visit Istria for wine?
Peak wine-travel season in Istria is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
Do I need an appointment to taste at Istria estates?
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
What hours do Istria cellars and tasting rooms keep?
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
How does tipping work at Istria tastings?
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
What is the one wine to try in Istria?
If you only open one bottle, open Sv. Jakov Malvazija by Clai. It is the wine most associated with Istria.